Tournament Advice

[Cdn Angler]

I'm in a kayak tournament Friday. I have no electronics and haven't fished this lake before. It is mostly LMB in the 2-3lb range. The lake is over 18 kms long and fishing thus far has been fairly slow. Total length to beat is 90 inches for 5 fish. My guess is the lake is fairly weedy (dying off) with patches of rock and hard bottom. Moderate water clarity.  

 

There are many bays and pockets, as well as main lake. No inflows or outflows really. Avg depth is 30 feet or so. Location: Canada. Avg water temp my guess is 65 degrees or so.

 

Where would you guys focus? What lures? I'm flying blind and in my experience the fall fishing is basically random in terms of where the fish are early and mid day. I have from 6 am to 5 pm. Usually the evening bite here starts at 6pm so not in play. 

 

My best guess is to junk fish around Islands and points, erring towards deeper spots. 

 

It is supposed to be on the back of high rainfall,/winds, temp dropping from 73 to 64, still windy though. 

[WRB]

Has this lake turned over yet?

Most Canadian lakes I have fished were in the Lake of the

Woods region western Ontario and Pike or Musky dominated the prime areas in the fall.

What means is Largemouth bass stayed around cover, usually inside breaks. Smallmouth around rocky reef areas with deep breaks.

I would try soft plastics like worms and creatures T-ringed w/ sliding 3/16 oz bullet sinker or drop shot rigged. Jigs.  Frog or some other not too noisy surface lures if the toothy fish are there.

Tom

PS, $ derby always fish your strengths, otherwise you donate.  

 

 

[Yakalong]

For what its worth, when I go into an area of water blind, I try to use stuff that I know and am comfortable with and have success with in similar looking areas in the past. Fish to your strengths, good luck! 

[gim]

44 minutes ago, WRB said:

Has this lake turned over yet?

I can’t say for sure about the lake the OP is speaking of, but lakes here in MN have not yet. Lakes in the northern half are still in the mid 60’s and down here by the twin cities they are still almost 70. It’s still more of a summer pattern to be honest.

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I can’t say for sure about the lake the OP is speaking of, but lakes here in MN have not yet. Lakes in the northern half are still in the mid 60’s and down here by the twin cities they are still almost 70. It’s still more of a summer pattern to be honest.

Blame it on the heat wave we had

Average number of 90+ days - 13

Number of 90+ days this year - 27

[Bluebasser86]

90" is a tough score to beat. I'd look for a topo map and find a bay with plenty of cover and deep water available that will likely hold good numbers of fish and you can spend the entire day on. If there's docks, I'd be focusing on those because they'll hold fish year round but especially now as the fish move back towards the banks to feed for winter. 

[detroit1]

I would power fish in the same areas you would, using heavy/compact spinnerbaits (like Munkin's), cranks, and lipless. Cover lots of water, you're looking for active feeders. My spin reels would stay home, along with soft plastics. It probabally wouldn't work though....?

[Smalls]

Even if you don't have a graph, at least download the Navionics app. Study it beforehand and narrow down some productive looking spots.